Two Valuable Rules
Two Valuable Rules
The Qur’an gives us two important rules as a condition for worship to be accepted. Allah said, “So whoever would hope for the meeting of his Lord, then let him do righteous deed and not associate in the worship of his Lord anyone.” (18:110)
This verse indicates two conditions for our worship to be acceptable:
The first is that our intention must be pure so that one does “not associate in the worship of his Lord anything.” The Prophet said, “Allah accepts no act that is not purely for His sake, done out of longing for His presence.”(57) It is not a question of someone’s act of worship simply being rejected if he associates another with Allah in it. Indeed, if this is the case, all of his previous deeds will be cast down:
“And We will come to what they have done of deeds and make them as dust dispersed (unaccepted).” (25:23) And man will be punished for the deeds he did with impure intentions. For Allah does not see appearances only, but He sees his heart, and He knows the pure heart from the corrupt. Once al-Fadil b. Iyad recited the verse:
“It is He Who has created death and life to test you, which of you is best
in deed.” (67:2) Then he said, “the best of deeds is the most sincere one, and the most correct.”
Someone asked him, “What do you mean to say?”
He said, “The act (of worship) if it is not done sincerely, will not be accepted. And if is not done correctly, will not be accepted. And none of the deeds will ever be accepted unless they are sincere and correct. To be sincere means: to worship Allah for His sake and pleasure only. To be correct means to worship Allah according His Book and the Sunnah of His Prophet.
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(57) Al-Nisa’i, (59).
